The Performance Gene - Unleashing the Human Element of Organizational DNA

Never has human resources been more relevant to the quest for success at organizations around the world.

Winning in an increasingly complex and service-driven global economy is all about execution, and execution comes down to people. The countless decisions made and actions taken by people at every level of an organization are the sum and substance of that business. If they make the right decisions and take the right actions at the right time with the right information, the business will flourish. If not, it will flounder. It is both that simple and that complicated.

As an executive charged with people management, the chief human resources officer (CHRO) is in an increasingly powerful and exposed role. From the CEO on down, senior leaders are focusing greater attention on how the human capital of an organization contributes to the enterprise’s success or failure. When the organization is aligned behind its strategy, it executes skillfully and achieves desired results. By the same token (and as anyone who has worked in an organization of any size, whether in the public or private sector, has seen firsthand), individuals’ counterproductive behaviors can take root and impede a company’s strategy and ultimate success.

Booz Allen's Jeff Akin, David Dye, David Kletter, and Walter McFarland are the authors of "The Performance Gene — Unleashing the Human Element of Organizational DNA."

study posted February 8, 2007